264 SERMONS UPON PSALM cxix. [Ser. CXXXY.
And tliis is tlie worse, because it doili not only ]-)ervert the end of speech, but defeatethanotlier of that right which we seem to give him, in the thing promised ; which is a fuilher degree of injustice. Therefore we must take liced how, either directly or interpretatively. we ascribe such a lie to God. The apostle telleth ns, 1 John v. 10, 'He that be- lieveth not, niaketh God a liar ; ' which is the highest dishonour you can cast upon him, which in manners and civility we would not offer to our equal, and which even a mean man would scorn to put up with at our hands. God hath made many promises, as that he will be with thee in six troubles, and in seven he will not forsake thee. Job. v. 19 ; that he will dispose of all things for the best to tliem that love him, Eom. viii. 28 ; that no good thing shall be wanting to them that fear him, Ps. xxxiv. 10. Doth not God mean as he saith ? and dare we trust him no more ? Your diffidence and drooping discouragements give him the lie, and you carry it so as if these were but words of course, without any intent to make them good.
2. Fidelilas. The next thing in the promise is faithfulness, and that referreth to the keeping of the i)romise. A man may be real in promising, he did not intend to deceive : but afterwards he changeth his mind : there may be verity in making the promise, but there is not fidelity in keeping the promise. But God is faithful ; hath he said, and shall he not do it ? All the promises are ' Yea and Amen ' in Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. i. 20. God's word is not ' Yea and Nay,' but ' Yea and Amen ; ' it doth not say Yea to-day, and Nay to-morrow, but always Yea. So it is Amen, so it shall be ; and this in Jesus Christ, on whose merit they are all founded, and who was the great instance of God's truth : for the great promise wherein God stood bound to the church was to send a Saviour to redeem the world ; and if God hath made good this promise, surely this is a pledge that he will make good all the rest; for if he spared not his Son, he will not stick at other things.
3. There is justiiia, righteousness ; for this is righteousness, J7(S suum cuiqiie tribuere, to give every one his right and his due. Now by promise, another man cometh to have a right in the thing pro- mised ; therefore justice requireth that you should give him the right that accruetli to him by virtue of your promise. So God, jjivmittendo se fecit dehilorem, maketh himself a debtor by promise. It was his mercy and goodness to make the promise, but his justice bindeth him to make it good. This is often s{)oken of in scripture : 1 John i. 9, ' Faithful and just to forgive us our sins ; ' 2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.' By his promise he is be- come a debtor to us ; he cannot go against his own word ; his justice will not suffer him to change. It is a debt of grace indeed, but a debt it is which it is justice for God to pay. Thus you see how it is a word of righteousness.
Reason 1. Because God hath in his promises pawned liis truth with the creature, and so given us an holdfast upon him. ChirograpJia tua injiciehat tihi Domine. Promises, as in a contract, are more than simple declarations, and bare assertions of what good he will do to us. With man it is one thing to say, This I purpose to do ; another, This
VeR. 123.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 2G5
I promise to do. A promise adcleth a new bond and obligation upon a man for fulfilling his word. An intimation or signification of God'.s will and ]iur})Ose showeth the event will ibllow ; but a promise doth not only do that, but giveth us a right and claim to the things pro- mised. Scripture prophecies will be fulfilled because of God's veracity; but scripture promises will be fulfilled, not because of his veracity, but his fidelity and justice. And the ' heirs of promise mny have strong consolation by God's word and oath ' — ' two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to lie,' Heb. vi. 18. There is a greater obligation upon God to make it good.
Reason 2. Because none that ever depended upon God's word were disappointed ; not one instance to the contrary : Ps. xviii. 30, ' The word of the Lord is tried ; he is a buckler to all that trust in him.' Search the annals and records of time, and all experience hath found the word of God exactly true. If any build not upon it, it is because they are not acquainted with God, and the course of his proceedings : Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will trust in thee.' There is so little believing and trusting God upon his word, because they are men of no experience ; otherwise they woidd find God j)unctual to his promise : ' Not one thing hath failed of all the good things the Lord your God spake concerning you,' Josh, xxiii. 14. He speaketh not only as his own observation, and the result of all his experiences, and that in a time when thei'e was no room for dissembling : ' I go the way of all the earth,' but also ' you know in all your hearts, and all your souls ; ' and he repeateth it, ' Not one thing hath failed.' Unless you be impudent, you cannot deny it ; try him, you have found sup})ort and relief hitherto.